It may be frigid outside, but somewhere far south hummingbirds are in bliss, unaware that many of us are getting cabin fever.

These same hummingbirds will eventually be making their trek northward and stopping to feast at the gardens of those who have chosen the right plants.

Doing a little planning is a first step for attracting hummingbirds to your garden this year. As a group it is hard to beat the cuphea.

If cuphea is not a word you are familiar with, then Mexican heather, Cuphea hyssopifolia, may be ring a bell with you.

While this is an absolutely wonderful landscape plant, my favorite hummingbird attractant is the cigar or candy corn plant, Cuphea micropetala. It loads up with large, 2-inch tubular flowers in an exotic combination of reddish-orange, yellow and green. Heat and humidity doesn't even pause its vigorous growth.

The smaller-flowered Mexican cigar or firecracker flower Cuphea ignea is such a super choice for hummingbirds that Operation Ruby Throat lists it in the top 10 of exotic hummingbird plants. You'll find choices of colors in these from the typical red and orange to pink flowered choices some exhibiting purple.

Lastly you must also consider the bat-faced cuphea, or Cuphea llavea. These unique flowers look like bat faces with scarlet red petals and little, purple mouse ears. The stems become slightly woody, arching and weather-tough. These are low maintenance, drought-tolerant, heat-loving plants and promise to delight children.

No matter which cuphea you choose, select a site in full sun and plant in fertile well-drained soil, spacing your plants 12 to 24 inches apart. While these cuphea species are considered root hardy in zones 8 and higher -- if they don't sit in wet soggy winter soil -- they should be considered an annual in Michigan, which mostly is in zone 5. But their beauty coupled with visiting hummingbirds will make growing them as annuals worth the effort.

The hardest part of growing them is patience. As the rewards start by midsummer and by fall, your friends and neighbors will be jealous.

In early summer, pinch growth off a bit and more branching will follow. Feed in midsummer and again in early fall with a light application of a balanced, slow-released fertilizer. Though drought tolerant, supplemental watering during long dry periods will pay dividends come fall.

These are plants you'll want to place in the middle and back of the border, as the bat faced cuphea can grow 2 feet tall and the cigar or firecracker cuphea reaches 3 to 5 feet tall. Use them informally in the garden rather than lined up like soldiers. They work well with zinnias and firebush, or planted in front of cannas and upright-type elephant ears in a tropical style garden.

It may be frigid now but spring is coming. Once you start growing flowers for hummingbirds and butterflies your gardening enthusiasm will reach new heights. A few cuphea plants are a great place to start. Place them where the family can see them and watch the hummingbirds feed.